Citizens left lost, wading in the water only wondering where to go. The elderly, unable to mobilize, their fate in the hands of their neighbors.

In the midst of a natural disaster, a nation is trying to solve a problem.

The solution is unity.

Many of us who have lived through a hurricane know the paradox of a natural disaster. Its power to destroy rivaled by its potential to bring us together.

I believed that the power of unity can still be found, only if we know where to look.

In the case of Houston, a region of millions bracing down against a powerful storm, relying on the advice of a few trusted leaders, our families, our neighbors and our emergency responders that unity is found closer to home.

VIDEO: Houston unites to face Harvey

1of45Rikki Saldivar goes through old family photos at a house that belonged to her grandparents, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, in Houston. Saldivar's grandparents, and four young relatives, drowned in a van in Greens Bayou during Hurricane Harvey.Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle

2of45The power of Harvey’s winds is apparent as Nathan Kaufman visits what used to be his apartment in Rockport. “All of my stuff is gone,” he said. “I have no idea what I’m going to do. But it’s in God’s hands.”Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle

6of45José Alarco reaches out to greet a neighbor as he makes his way out of the Melrose Park neighborhood.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle

7of45Rescue boats work along Tidwell at the east Sam Houston Tollway helping to evacuate people Monday, August 28, 2017. Much of the area is flooded from rains after Hurricane Harvey.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

8of45Abel Hilario clutches his eight-year-old son, Aven, as they are evacuated in driving rain from their home by boat along the south Sam Houston Tollway, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017, in Houston. Aven has autism, and the family had been separated from his mother for three days as they waited for the water to recede. They were reunited when they reached land.Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle

11of45Chad Smith, a Task Force One member from the Dallas Fire Dept., carries Christian Rodriguez, 1, from a rescue boat as people are transferred to a pickup point along Edgebrook Sunday, August 27, 2017.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

12of45Chris Gutierrez, second from right, helps his grandmother, Edelmira Gutierrez, down the stairs of their flooded house and into a waiting fire department truck in the Concord Bridge neighborhood as Addicks Reservoir surpasses capacity due to near constant rain from Tropical Storm Harvey Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017 in Houston.Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Houston Chronicle

14of45Fluids from a submerged vehicle rise to the surface at the intersection of the Hardy Toll Road and the Sam Houston Tollway, as heavy rains continue from Tropical Storm Harvey, Tuesday August 29, 2017, in Houston. Sgt. Steve Perez, 56, reportedly drowned in his patrol car at the intersection while on his way to work. He was a 30-year veteran of the HPD.Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle

15of45Family members react as a van is pulled out of the Greens Bayou with the bodies of six family members on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, in Houston. The van was carried into the bayou during Tropical Storm Harvey as the water went over the bridge. The bodies of six members of the Saldivar family were discovered in the van they were last seen driving during the storm.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle

17of45Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Rick Johnson pauses to listen for people's voices as they search for people in a neighborhood inundated by water from the Addicks Reservoir, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017, in Houston. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle

18of45Danny Hannon carries his dry cowboy boots in his backpack as he goes to check his home in the Lakewood Crossing subdivision off Cypresswood Wednesday, August 30, 2017 in Houston. He had almost two feet of water the night before inside his home. Much of the Houston area was flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. ( Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle)Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

19of45Savina Rodriquez surveys the expanse of a flooded Runnymeade Street after being evacuated by boat to the Kroger on W. Belfort Street at S. Post Oak Blvd. during extreme flooding in Meyerland, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017, in Houston.Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle

20of45A quartet of Dominican sisters from Mary Immaculate Province join a line of people waiting to volunteer at NRG Center, which opened its doors to a capacity of 10,000 evacuees in the wake of Hurricane Harvey on Wednesday.
﻿Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Houston Chronicle

21of45Shiann Barker holds her nephew, Brayln Matthews Sims Jr., 1, between cots at the George R. Brown Convention Center where nearly 10,000 people are taking shelter after Tropical Storm Harvey Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2017 in Houston. They have ben at the shelter since Sunday after they evacuated from the Clayton Homes neighborhood. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle)Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Houston Chronicle

22of45Terranysha Ferguson holds her son, Christian Phillips, 1, as she sits with the rest of her family at the convention center.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle

23of45Wilfredo Linares reaches out for his baby, Mason, as they are evacuated from Grand Mission subdivision, as the water rises from heavy rains from Tropical Storm Harvey, on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

24of45Laura Blinten is helped into an SUV by CBS correspondent David Begnaud has residents were evacuated from their homes near Crossroads and Walkwood drives during Tropical Storm Harvey Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, in Houston.Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle

25of45A man reaches to take a small dog from a rescue truck on Tidwell at the east Sam Houston Tollway as evacuations continue from flooding following Hurricane Harvey Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, in Houston.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

26of45Amanda Ankney hugs her father Byron Gilleon after he was rescued from his homes near Crossroads and Walkwood drives during Hurricane Harvey Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, in Houston.Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle

29of45People cross median to 45 south near Edgebrook to board Metro buses to be taken to a shelter at the GRB Convention Center Sunday, August 27, 2017. Much of the area is flooded from rains after Hurricane Harvey.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

30of45A rescuer carries a child from a boat to a pickup area along Edgebrook Sunday, August 27, 2017. Much of the area is flooded from rains after Hurricane Harvey.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

32of45Ruby Young waits with her husband, Claude Young, after being rescued from their flooded home by boat and taken to a pickup point along Edgebrook Sunday, August 27, 2017. The elderly man had many medical issues from a stroke in May. Flooding is wide spread after rain from Hurricane Harvey.Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

33of45Kathryn Loder sorts donated clothing at George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston as Tropical Storm Harvey inches its way through the area on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle

34of45Alma Castaneda cleans the walls of her flood-damaged home Thursday in the Verde Forest subdivision in northeast Houston.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

35of45Hilda Robinson, 65, is embraced by her neighbor from across the street, Shanice Haynes as she took a break from helping her family members with cleanup of her home Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, in Beaumont, Texas. Robinson's home, where she has lived the last 15 years, was flooded with roughly four feet of water according to her family.Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle

36of45Texas State University, San Marcos, students Carson Asher and Alaniz Amillano sing during a worship service on the front lawn of The First Presbyterian Church of Dickinson Sunday, Sept. 3, 2017, in Dickinson. The First Presbyterian Church of Dickinson was badly damaged in the floods from TS Harvey. The only thing that wasn't damaged was the stained glass. They a 10:30 a.m. service outside their church. ( Steve Gonzales / Houston Chronicle )Photo: Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle

37of45Gideon Kim, 2, plus with a toy train while his father, Nathan, is sorting donated shoes as they volunteer at The Forge for Families, a Christian community organization that has been transformed into an Red Cross shelter, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, in Houston. The Kim family, including Gideon's mother, Dr. Judy Kim, had been volunteer at The Forge since Tuesday.Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle

38of45Frances Breaux wipes tears from her face after talking to media about her close friends and neighbors Leo and Lajayne Opelia, both in their 70s, whom she hasn't being able to reach since last night, before the organic peroxides inside the Arkema chemical plant exploded Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017, in Crosby, Texas. The Opelias were mandatorily evacuated from their homes by officials but they decided to sneak back in their home.Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle

40of45Grandchildren of Eva Perez play on her furniture that is being thrown away as a result of Tropical Storm Harvey on Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in Houston.Photo: Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle

41of45Thomas George, Jr., wrings water from the insulation of his home heavily damaged by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, in Patton Village, Texas. The water line from the flood can be seen on the wall at hi shoulders.Photo: Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle

42of45"She will not leave my side" Linda Bonner said about her granddaughter Gaige-Lyn Gray Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, in Channelview. "She has to go through this process with me" Bonner said of her grandaughter who she has babysat since she was born. Bonner's home flooded and started sinking into a 6 to 12 foot sink hole. She lives right next to a Waste Pit and has no plan in rebuilding her home of nearly 40 years.Photo: Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle

43of45Carrying equipment for his mother's feeding equipment, Tommy Golightly walks down an empty south Sam Houston Tollway between his home in Morningside Place on Cullen Street to where his mother had been evacuated to Tuesday, August 29, 2017.Photo: Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle

45of45Ric Saldivar, center, recalls stories about his parents, Belia Rojas Saldivar and Manuel Quintanilla Saldivar Jr., during their funeral. The pair drowned along with four great-grandchildren in a van during flooding from Harvey.Photo: Jon Shapley, Houston Chronicle

David Funchess is a recent graduate of Texas Southern University. The Houston Chronicle staff of 11 photojournalists has been working around the clock since Harvey hit Texas. They've traveled in boats, trucks, helicopters, bikes and on foot to get where you can't to show you how your community is impacted and is coming together.